Shadow Creature of Braxton County
The Shadow Creature of Braxton County is the seventh episode of Mountain Monsters and the thirteenth episode overall. A.I.M.S. investigates the clandestine killer known as the Shadow Creature. Summary On the drive to their new destination, Trapper tells the team they are going to Braxton County West Virginia, home of the Flatwoods monster, which was supposedly a strange creature from outer space, but the guys all agree it was nothing more than a hoax. This prompts Buck to ask what they are going after if not the Flatwoods monster, and Jeff replies they are investigating something completely different; the Braxton county Shadow Creature. Jeff says the Shadow Creature only hunts at night and moves in stealth, which is how it got it's name, and is 6 feet and 350 to 500 pounds. Perhaps the strangest feature is the creature has an exoskeleton, like an insect. The story of the Shadow creature goes back to the Civil war, when five Union soldiers bodies were found mutilated, by an unknown creature, and now Jeff is hearing reports of mutilated animals carcasses, leading him to believe it's the same culprit. However, since the carcasses are only found in extremely deep woods, the only people to have had sightings are hermits and hardcore hunters, who are concerned for their safety. With what they know about the Shadow Creature, Trapper declares this to be the most dangerous hunt they've ever been on. The four meet up with their first eyewitness, a sharpshooter named Benjie. Benjie was out shooting one day when it began to get dark, unfortunately his four wheeler wouldn't start, and so he began to walk out of the woods. At the bottom of a steep hill he saw a huge black creature which began to climb up the hill, with ease.He said he could barely even see the thing in between the trees, and it never made a sound. Panicking, he hid behind a rock and stayed there for half an hour, when he eventually made a run for it. Impresses by the stealth and speed of the creaute, Trapper decides to conduct a night hunt in the area. On the first night investigation, the team are unsure what to expect because there is no folklore on the Shadow Creature like there usually is on other monsters. To make matters worse, Huckleberry got sick, and had to stay behind, leaving just Trapper, Buck, and Jeff. While doing an interview with the cameraman, Trapper is interrupted by a snap in the woods. Searching around the area, they find no footprints, only a mark in the snow covered ground once in a while, leading Trapper to believe the Shadow Creature has incredible jumping ability. Jeff and Buck notice something Trapper missed; blood. Jeff believes the beast was dragging something but Trapper determines it was carrying it's prey as there are no drag marks. Tasting the blood, Trapper confirms it's deer, and still warm. A rustle comes from above, and they see a tree branch shaking, signifying something was there not long ago. Another bang comes from close by, and Jeff spots a heat signature on his thermal cam. When they reach the fallen tree where Jeff saw the heat signature, likely the Shadow Creature, they find it's at the edge of a steep cliff and covered in blood. Trapper believes the creature leapt off the tree into the darkness below, and is astounded how it could survive such a fall, when a shriek emanates from the deep chasm, followed by another, worse than the last. The team decides to ease out, and leaves for the night. Next day, Willy drives to meet Wild Bill on a trail in the woods, and made sure to tell Bill to be on time after waiting for him for three hours last episode, last episode Much to his surprise, Wild Bill is already there, and has cooked him some breakfast although Willy says it tastes like "Burnt car tires". For the Shadow Creature, Willy designs a snare trap, so the pair look for two trees to set it up on. They come to a cliff and use climbing gear to repel to the bottom. Unfortunately, the cliff is two steep for the rest of the team to come down later in the hunt, and they aren't yet able to find two perfect trees, so the duo walk along the cliff face and keep searching. Then they come across a hole in the rock, the ceiling is very low but they both manage to crawl in on there stomachs. Willy and Billy figure something is living inside because there is slick marks at the entrance and there is a lot of space. With that in mind, they decide to exit the cave when a log falls down in front of their faces. They run outside and Bill is convinced something threw the log at them, so they grab their gear and leave. Later, the rest of the team, meets up with Huckleberry, who is now recooperated and to everyone's surprise, has taken a bath! All he says on the matter is "Women involved". They take the side by side to see their next eye witness, a reclusive hunter by the name of Kim. Only problem is, if they want to talk to him, they have to find him. They drive through his property and yell for him to no avail. Jeff mentions he talked to Kim on the phone about an encounter he had with the Shadow Creature, but then Kim sounded as if he wished he hadn't. Buck points out a freshly cut log and then finds a rag tied to a tree, likely a sign from Kim. Suddenly, three gunshots ring out in the distance so the team follows them, hoping to find Kim. They do, although he is hesitant to speak with them. Eventually, Kim agrees to talk, and tells them what he knows about the Shadow Creature. Buck asks if he knows what it looks like but Kim says you feel it before you see it, but it is hard to catch a glimpse of. He also says it doesn't give him trouble but it often attacks the deer, leaving behind only their heads. Trapper decides to set a trap near the trail where Kim's seen the creature, but he suggests they leave and forget about the creature though the team insists the at least try to catch it. Finally, Kim gives them a chip from his trail cam with a photo of the Shadow creature on it, and saying they can decide whether or not to hunt after seeing it's picture. They thank him, and head back to the side-by-side, and notice Kim has already vanished. Back at the truck, they view the picture Kim gave them, which shows what appears to be a massive body with a exoskeleton. Impressed by the photo, Trapper says it's time to get serious. Next day, Wild Bill and Willy follow the trail Trapper told them about and find two perfect trees to use, which are small enough to bend, but strong enough to hold the Shadow Creature. After setting up the snare, Willy and Bill notice the woods around them become very quiet as the sun sets. They get an eerie feeling when they hear a shriek and spy a black figure moving through the trees. With no weapons, the pair quickly leaves. In the morning, Willy and Bill return to finish the trap, this time bringing some firepower. They finish the trap by adding a teepee tunnel to camouflage the snare and to funnel the Shadow Creature to where they need him. They rest of the team arrives to see the trap. At night, they return with a dead deer which they will use as bait, and a few infrared cameras to catch the Shadow Creature on film. The strategy for the hunt, as Trapper explains, is for Willy and Bill to repel down the rock cliffs while the others work the high ridge and push the creature towards the trap. Willy and Bill scale the enormous rock cliff, which is extra dangerous in the dead of night, and eventually reach the bottom, although there is still another cliff to scale. Willy hears some noises from the cliff behind them while Bill struggles to untie himself. They radio the others and Trapper says they won't go too far away just in case. Willy and Bill continue to the next cliff, still hearing noises, when Willy slips and falls into the darkness below. Bill hurries down to Willy, 10 or 15 feet below, who has suffered a scrape but is mostly unharmed. Willy radios Trapper and tells him they made it to the bottom to the trail, and both teams press on. The two hear another noise, and find a hole beneath a rock leading into a cavern, presumably where the noise came from. Willy decides to enter, and discovers the cave is quite large. A shriek comes from the woods and Willy is forced to cut his exploring short when Bill yells for him to come out. They radio Trapper who tells them to keep pushing the monster, so the duo gives chase. They soon meet up with the rest of the team and tell them the were mere feet away from the creature.Now that they know they've driven the Shadow Creature from the rocks they begin pushing it toward the trap. Jeff picks it up in the distance and they easily pick up it's trail, finding broken ice and even a footprint. Continuing the chase, the team pushes the monster closer and closer to the trap, and to their surprise, catch a glimpse of it's own shadow running extremely fast away from them they chased the shadow but it vanished in the darkness. Losing the creature for a minute, the team continues when Jeff catches the creature on the thermal camera. When they arrive at the trap they are shocked to find it is not set off and the deer is gone. There are more tracks on the ground which lead around to the side of the trap which now has a huge hole slashed in the side, and nearby are drag marks. They soon realize the Shadow Creature went around the side of the trap, snatched the deer, and vanished. Although they are disappointed they didn't get the Shadow Creature, they soon remember Jeff's cameras, which recorded footage of a black silhouette passing in front. Trapper says he now knows why the Shadow Creature has it's name, after having first hand experience of the cresture's speed and stealth. Interestingly, they now know one good thing about the Shadow Creature; it is still afraid of man, not once turning to face them. The team may not have caught the Shadow Creature but they can certainly say it is way smarter than they thought, and definetly exists in Braxton County. Category:Cryptids Category:Episodes Category:Season 2